Emil and Karl (Hardcover)

~ Yankev Glatshteyn (Author), Jeffrey Shandler (Translator) "Karl sat on a low stool, petrified..." (more)
Key Phrases: Aunt Matilda, Frau Gutenglass, Thank God (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 5-9–This novel about two boys growing up in pre-World War II Vienna provides a unique perspective. The author wrote the book after returning to America from a visit to Poland in 1934, and was alarmed at how growing Nazi persecution was changing the face of Europe. It was published in Yiddish in 1940. Emil and Karl are school friends. Emil is Jewish and has been forced from school. Although Karl is not Jewish, one day men drag his socialist mother away. He goes to find his friend only to discover that Emil's father has been murdered by the Nazis and that his mother has gone crazy with grief. The two boys are totally alone and must escape the omnipresent storm troopers and find food and shelter. They become both observers and victims of the attacks on Jews. Helped by resistance fighters, they eventually escape the city. This important book, newly translated into English, gives a chilling portrait of a world descending into madness as experienced by two innocent children. The excellent translation effectively conveys the helplessness of the characters. As terrifying as their experiences were, the story was written at a time when the full horrors perpetrated by Hitler were yet to occur. While Emil and Karl escaped, the majority of persecuted children did not. A useful comparison might be made to Hans Peter Richter's Friedrich (Puffin, 1987), which did not have such a positive outcome.–Quinby Frank, formerly at Green Hedges School, Vienna, VA
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* Emil and Karl may be "one of the first books about the Holocaust for any age and in any language." So says Jeffrey Shandler, professor of Yiddish Literature and Holocaust Studies at Rutgers University, who has translated the book into English for the first time. The novel, written for children, was published in Yiddish in New York, appearing in February 1940. Its author, a Jewish immigrant from Poland who had written two adult novels, was part of a dynamic Yiddish-speaking community in New York. On a visit home to Poland in 1934, he witnessed growing discrimination against Jews, and he wanted American Jewish children to know about it. Now, long after, translator Shandler fills in what was happening when the book was first published. World War II had begun in 1939, but the U.S. was not yet part of it; Germany had invaded Austria; Jews were viciously persecuted and deported to concentration camps. But even Glatshteyn could not foresee the death camps and genocide that were coming. Why has his novel never been translated before? Beyond the amazing publication history, it's much more than a dutiful read. It's a clear, powerful novel that will bring today's readers very close to what it was like to be a child under Nazi occupation.

Told in the third-person from the alternating viewpoints of two friends in Vienna-Emil, who is Jewish, and Karl, who is not-the story begins with the classic nightmare scenario. Karl watches the Nazis drag his mother away; they punch him in the stomach and warn him that they will be back for him. He remembers when his Socialist father was shot dead. Karl tries to find shelter with his Jewish school friend, Emil, but after Nazis shoot Emil's father, the two boys are left on their own. They find kindness and shelter with a neighbor, with a brave member of the Underground, and even with a police supervisor; but they also find betrayal and vicious cruelty. They witness the destruction of Jewish stores, and, while being taunted by mobs, they are forced to scrub the city pavements with their hands. In an unforgettable ending, the two friends crowd onto trains, and they are separated. Will they be transported to a safe country or to concentration camps?

The fast-moving prose is stark and immediate. Glatshteyn was, of course, writing about what was happening to children in his time; his story was not historical fiction then. At times, the story reads like an adventure, but the harsh reality is always there, neither sensational nor sentimental. The translation, 65 years after the novel's original publication, is nothing short of haunting.

Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 194 pages
• Publisher: Roaring Brook Press; Tra edition (April 4, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596431199
• ISBN-13: 978-1596431195
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #980,691 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A 2007 Association of Jewish Libraries Notable Book for Older Readers, January 28, 2007

By	Rachel Kamin "Chair, Sydney Taylor Book Award... (West Bloomfield, MI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In 1940 Vienna, Austria, prior to the start of World War II, Karl, who is not Jewish, has just witnessed his mother - a Socialist - being beaten and taken away from his apartment by Nazi thugs. Alone, he must decide what to do. His first thought is to go to his friend Emil's house.

Emil is Jewish. His father was taken away and murdered by another group of Nazi's. They cremated him and sent the ashes back to the house. The funeral has just taken place and Emil's mother is sitting shiva. When Karl arives, they decide to stay together forever.

Their experiences describe the sense of terror and horror the people of Austria - Jews and non-Jews - felt when the Nazi's took over their country. Emil and Karl encounter people of all types: the good who work to save people and end the occupation; the bad who force people to do terrible things like scrubbing the streets with their bare hands; and the indifferent who stand by and watch as all of this takes place.

This is an excellent book to begin discussing how people reacted when the Nazis came to power. Why did people stay and not leave? Why did some people join the heckling, shouting, evil crowds? Why did others decide to stay and fight from within, saving as many people as they could? While today we know the tragic consequences of the Nazis, this book allows us to enter into a world prior to the war and imagine what we ourselves would have done under similar circumstances. Highly recommended! REVIEWD BY KATHY BLOOMFIELD (NEWTON, MA)

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EMIL AND KARL, October 3, 2006

By	Jewish Book World Magazine (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This gripping and unusual novel is set in Vienna on the eve of World War II. It is a beautifully written and compelling story of Jewish life in Austria turned on its head after the German invasion. Two nine-year old boys who are classmates and best friends -- Emil is Jewish and Karl is not -- fight to escape the Germans and to survive the war together. Their respective parents are either dead or have been taken away in a violent fashion. In their attempt to survive, they see a world where Jews are regarded as inferior people. They are initially helped by their neighbors, who are both good Austrians and good people. They are then put in touch with and protected by members of the Resistance. Written in Yiddish in 1939 in New York, it is a unique book in that the story it is telling was written as the events were unfolding. The translator believes that it is one of the first books, in any language, for young readers about a period that would eventually be called the Holocaust. The Anschluss in 1938 was the beginning of the persecution and deportation of Jews in Austria. This is a particularly haunting story to read now, as we read with the benefit of hindsight. For ages 10 and up. Reviewed by Shelley Feit

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why Did it NOT make a BIGGER difference in 1940??, August 20, 2008

By	kindred spirit (God's Country) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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This review is from: Emil and Karl (Paperback)

This book was written right before WWII broke out in Vienna in 1940. It was written in Yiddish and it's primary target was Jewish children in the USA to let them know what fellow children in Europe were experiencing.

The book is very moving to me as an adult one of the best I have read. Reading this as a child in 1940 and telling my parents about it I'd think it would have caused a bigger outpouring of crys to help the Jews escape. I know the USA suffered huge losses in WWII but I've not heard of groups of children trying to help the children in Europe.

The Diary of Anne Frank is a household word, I think this book should be also. Karl and Emil are not real people but they portray what was happening to real people at the time. It was written when it was happening and not decades later.

It just saddens my heart that so many were lost. I was not alive during WWII so I don't know what I would have done. I hope I would have Begged to have one of there children come live with me. But that is easy to say now I know. Do not get me wrong..I 100% respect those who fought and won the war for us, I am grateful to all the troops now also.

At any rate this is a must read for all 9+yr olds. I at 52 was greatly moved. This is a classic and I am glad it got translated into English.